I think there are some other questions that need to be asked here. I'm not sure exactly how to phrase this: "Of the software-centric industries, what percentag

I think there are some other questions that need to be asked here. I'm not sure exactly how to phrase this: "Of the software-centric industries, what percentage of employees are actually writing software? What percentage of software developers do not work in these industries." I don't know the answer to that, but for some reason I think it's well under 50%. It tends to (on HN anyway) get presented as the coders & management. But (IMO) that's too simplified to mean much. Programming makes sense as a starting point. It's a relatively straightforward, transferable & acquirable skill set. On the other hand, things like account management, or sales may require the kind of skills you need experience to gain & are hard to develop intentionally. Also, I think it's relatively easy to shift from coding to something else organically, but not the other way around. If you are a programmer that ends up making software for the agricultural industry , you may pick up all sorts of skills & knowledge that make you useful in other areas. If you enter that industry from another end (even if you are very close to the software), you are unlikely to become useful as a programmer. At least not without intending to. You wouldn't be surprised to hear this story: CS degree at 22, worked as a developer of farm management software for 5 years >> a (software/technology) consultant in agribusiness for 5 years >> a manager/executive/account manager/marketing person etc. for irrigation supplies manufacturer >> something else. You would be somewhat surprised to hear the reverse, someone with 10 years industry experience leveraging that to create software for that industry. It's not impossible, but it's worth remarking on. It probably means that either the person was a programming amateur that went pro or that they actively decided to retool themselves via a path of quite a lot of existence.